Yeah he has played his ass off the right way. He does some little things as well. He directs guys during stoppages, it is as if he has been on this team for a while. And his defence is better then I thought.

First impressions...
Terrence Ross – a beautiful shot, but must be able to get it off faster once defenders know his game. Needs to mix it up with drives to the basket. Hope he gets stronger. Maybe a bit too unselfish? Curious to see what he can do in iso situations. Although it might not be his game.

Jose Calderon – a warrior... after turning his ankle, I thought he was done for the night. But still kept playing after. Missing his hesitation drives to the basket.... hope to see this more in the upcoming games or getting older?

John Lucas – probably the quickest player on the team. Great shooting, kept their team in the game. In the end of games, perhaps I want the ball in his hands if Lowry still out.

Ed Davis – great rebounding (10) and post defense. Still raw offensively, needs to play smarter.

Derozan – impressive in the end of the game. Quiet 18 pts. He seems to be our only slasher. If he goes down, we might be in trouble. After 5 rebs in the half, only added 1 in the second half.

Bargnani – settled too much for his outside shot (which was off today) but played great D. Needs to drive it in or post it up more. Take advantage of that extra 15 lbs of baby fat he gained in the summer.

I might add that I spent a lot of time watching Fields. Not too impressive offensively but his defence and positioning (which helped his team mates with their games) was superb.

Most frustrated with Davis tonight, but he showed signs. Most disappointed with Kleiza, whose shot was off. It seemed like he wasn't taking the game seriously.

Lucas was the best example of team depth. Amir showed how much work any other big is going to have to do to get playing time, because he was the best out their tonight. He should be starting, but the chemistry with Jose is sooo good, maybe yo leave him as the first big off the bench.

Ross definitely a keeper. Great defense. Anderson came back just like the end of the year last season. Not many teams with this kind of depth. Injuries will not be a factor for the Raps.

I might add that I spent a lot of time watching Fields. Not too impressive offensively but his defence and positioning (which helped his team mates with their games) was superb.

Most frustrated with Davis tonight, but he showed signs. Most disappointed with Kleiza, whose shot was off. It seemed like he wasn't taking the game seriously.

Lucas was the best example of team depth. Amir showed how much work any other big is going to have to do to get playing time, because he was the best out their tonight. He should be starting, but the chemistry with Jose is sooo good, maybe yo leave him as the first big off the bench.

Ross definitely a keeper. Great defense. Anderson came back just like the end of the year last season. Not many teams with this kind of depth. Injuries will not be a factor for the Raps.

Injuries will be a factor. It's nice to have depth but, we have starters for a reason. We need them on the court to win games. I found ED played well 10 rebounds in 18 mins. He missed a couple chippies at the rim and free throws. I found the officiating really bad and he got his fair share of it.

Injuries will be a factor. It's nice to have depth but, we have starters for a reason. We need them on the court to win games. I found ED played well 10 rebounds in 18 mins. He missed a couple chippies at the rim and free throws. I found the officiating really bad and he got his fair share of it.

Injuries is always gonna be a down factor for ANY team regardless of their team status, but it won't hurt this team AS bad as it would a Boston team, or New York team, or Los Angeles. Competition at every position, and if one guy isn't able to play due to injury, there will not be a huge drop-off in comparison to Kobe/Meeks etc.

John Lucas is very capable of being a spot starter, and no doubt he is a very good back-up. He proved it tonight, and I really believed he had the better game on both ends over Calderon. Fields and Kleiza weren't having great offensive games, but Derozan and Ross played a good amount together, and proved to work very well. Not to mention Anderson and McGuire did some really nice things tonight.

Bargnani wasn't spectacular either, he had a number of miscues, but Ed came in and continued the rebounding Gray had in the first couple, and Amir was the best big tonight easily.

All in all, this is going to be a very competitive team, and we have to take in to account, that there aren't very many teams as crisp and smooth as Real Madrid, so it was a great test right out of the gate to test the Raptors' defense. I honestly believe the Raptors would've lost this game if they did not have the athleticism too just out-run Real Madrid. The energy of Ross, Amir, and Lucas won the game tonight. A slow team would not get it done against an offense like this.

Derozan – impressive in the end of the game. Quiet 18 pts. He seems to be our only slasher. If he goes down, we might be in trouble. After 5 rebs in the half, only added 1 in the second half.

That's a great, great point. It seemed like it was all ABOUT shooting! Something we didn't have last year, but too many slashers in Forbes, James Johnson, Bayless.

I really do believe that a paint worker/presence in Valanciunas, and of course Kyle Lowry will address that no doubt. To be honest though, it really scared me how hard it was for this team to get into the paint, Bargnani continued to settle outside.

I seriously felt that Davis was very aggressive though, and he seems to have an intensity about him now. From my eye, it looked like every single possession he wanted to elbow someone in the face, or knock them off their feet. He played hard tonight.

Yay, ball is back. Kinda. Good to hear some ball talk again. Keep in mind it's just the first of the preseason against a non NBA team with 2 major components out so we really saw nothing too serious. Don't draw too many conclusions off of this.